Hall of Traitors
by Jezzi
Summary: For challengers of Yevon, the Via Purifico is not a trial, but a final resting place. Oneshot.


_**Hall of Traitors**_

* * *

I feel as if I'm trapped… I can't find my way out. There's a ceiling, a floor, but no windows. No light. The halls are darker than I'd imagined. The only light is here, in this recession, where I lie. What exists beyond this niche? I can't see it, is it there?

Why is the architecture so beautiful if this is a place not meant to be seen? Why do they put us here to suffer, lock us in, and give us beauty? Perhaps because the beauty is marred with remnants.

I look at the wall closest to where I lie. Someone else has made scratches in the wall, a day counter. I count them. Forty-two. Will I last forty-two days? Who was this person? Why were they here?

It is so lonely, so cold. I shiver. A load roar echoes down the hall. I push myself into a corner, behind a crumbling statue. I am still.

A group of fanged creatures searches my niche in the hall, red eyes staring at my hiding spot. But they leave, and I watch as their silhouettes vanish into the darkness. _So, that is what is here_, I think, staying still for a long while, fear of their glowing red eyes keeping me grounded. No more emerge. I do not know how long I've been sitting.

I remember fighting these creatures, not long ago. My aeons have no strength, they helped me to fight the ones who put me here. I am defenseless without my guardians, and who knows where they are. Are they dead? Are they being searched for by the creatures, as well?

A sharp-edged rock lies near the counter marks in the wall. It is glinting in the weak torchlight. I pull myself slowly from behind the statue and I pick it up, twisting it in my hands, memorizing its texture. I return with it to my hiding place, and I look at the wall behind me. Others have used this space for counter marks, as well. One only has three days.

I wonder how to measure a day. I cannot see the sunlight, the moonlight, the stars. Perhaps it is all an illusion. The one who lasted for forty-two may have been here for only three, and the one who was here for three may have lasted fifty. But I will never know. I scratch my first mark onto an empty space on the stone. It is comforting, for I feel like I am a part of a group, even if I am the only member present. My marks will allow me to be remembered. No one else will remember me, no one but the other disgraced. Yevon will make sure of it.

* * *

There are four marks on the wall now. I have ventured from my niche and into the darkness, but not far enough to find anything new. I've been lucky to avoid the monsters. When I sleep, sometimes I can see the light of their eyes on the wall above my head. I pray to the Fayth that they won't find me. All I have is my counter rock, and a walking stick I found yesterday. I don't know how to fight with it. I'm not so sure I want to try.

There are markings on the wall everywhere I go. I can feel them, though I can't see in the darkness. How many others have been here? Once, I thought I heard sobbing echoing in the halls, but I couldn't be sure. Are others here now? Are my guardians alive? I pray that they are, and that I can find them.

* * *

Ten marks, now. I'm not sure if I'm keeping the correct time. I have found three more areas with torches now. I always return to my place, though, because I haven't found a hiding place that is good enough. I saw a red lizard yesterday, the kind that spits fire. This scares me more than the red-eyed monsters.

I found a chest, hidden behind some fallen pieces of the ceiling. Praise be to Yevon… whomever left the treasures there will be cherished in my heart for all eternity. Thanks to them, I have a weapon fit for fighting and magic enough to burn down any door I may find. The fruit preserves were the best meal I've ever had.

I heard the sobbing sounds again, yesterday. They are coming from what I think is north. I will get there soon, I think.

* * *

Fourteen marks. I've run out of food… I never thought I could be so hungry. I found this sphere near some doors. I tried to burn them down, but it got me nowhere. At least, now that I've found the sphere, I can record my progress. Yevon can't erase public record if they don't know it exists. Maybe I will be remembered by someone for something other than my counter marks.

I killed a red-eyed monster today. I am frightened that more will come. It was almost too much for me to handle alone. I am pathetic. I wanted to beat Sin, and yet I can barely take down a common terror.

I can't hear the crying anymore. I'm afraid to search for it. I don't know what I'll find.

* * *

Twenty marks. I'm sick, I know I am. It hurts to eat, but it hurts to not eat as well. I heard a door today. I don't know why it was opened. Is someone else here? Or are they taking me out? I wish they would. I think I may go crazy if I'm alone in this place any longer.

* * *

Twenty-two marks. A red-eyed devil caught me. My leg is torn up. I can't walk on it. Even the walking stick is too hard to move with. I'm trying to stay still. I've seen enough wounds and fixed enough of them to know that this is bad. If I rip the muscle any further, I'll see bone. I have no magic left to fix myself up, and I can't search for more hidden aids left by the people before me.

I'm hiding behind my statue again. I don't think I'll leave this place. I was overconfident about getting out. I waited too long to search for the open door. Right when things start to feel better, those things will get you.

I hope they finish me off soon, before infection sets in. I'd much rather die quickly than wait for my body to destroy itself.

* * *

Twenty-five marks. I don't know how much time I have left. Infection came first. Now the devils won't even come near me. I supposed that no meat is better than poisonous meat. I am in pain, but I'm also lethargic. I can't move far from this spot. I hope that one day, long from now, someone can find my marks on the wall and sit here, and recognize that I died here. I know my twenty-five is not as awe-inspiring as the one who went for forty-two, but it's enough. Maybe it can help someone else to last fifteen, or thirty. Maybe it can help encourage someone to get out.

I've written notes, as well. The walking stick and the staff are here. I've drawn a map to help them find the sphere. Perhaps someone will find their records, be searching. Maybe they can be saved, as I could not. Maybe they will be able to save themselves, as I could not. Perhaps they can get away and defeat Sin, and end the suffering the world goes through. Perhaps they can uncover the truth about Yevon, just as we tried to do. I left my name, Eina, and the year next to the markings. I also wrote Nara and Adrach's names… they are far more worthy of remembrance than me. I do not know how much longer I will be here… but I hope it isn't long. I have the strength to face it now. I welcome the Farplane with open arms.

* * *

Lulu knelt behind a statue, waiting for the flaming fiends to leave the area. She wasn't about to run scared from them, but she didn't want to invoke their anger, either. She would wait until they left, and then, she would set out in the opposite direction to find the others. Yuna was strong enough to hold her own. She wasn't worried.

With a sigh, she turned her head to stare at the wonderful architecture. These halls looked just like those above in the temple. Lulu wouldn't be surprised if she were beneath the Chamber of the Fayth. Whereas those upstairs were spotless, though, these were dirty with age, covered in scratch marks. She sat quietly, counting the scratch marks directly in front of her. Twenty-six.

With a frown, Lulu leaned closer. A map was scrawled into the stone, a rough sketch of the very hallway she'd wandered before finding this place. Not far were some doors and a round circle. "A sphere… why would one of those be down here?" Lulu whispered, wondering quietly as she listened to the fiends' shrieks of rage. She read the messy script below the map.

_Summoner Eina of Djose. Lady Nara and Sir Adrach. Sin 1232-1250._

Lulu frowned, staring at the script with wonder. _Two-hundred years ago… she must have died right here, in this very spot…_ Lulu set her hand on the floor, amazed at the history this old torture chamber held.

Not far from the inscription, she saw more markings. There were only three in a row on one patch, seventeen on another. With a sigh and a prayer to the Fayth for their rest, she looked back to the inscription and read further.

_Stop Yevon._

In confusion, Lulu stared at the message. Yevon… had Yevon always been the problem?

"Hello?" a voice called, not far away. Her head sprang up, looking behind her.

"Yuna? Are you alright?" Lulu stood and stepped out from behind the statue. Yuna appeared from the dark hallway, her eyes dark in the weak light.

"I'm fine…" She held up an intricate staff. "I found this. I wish I could thank whoever left it here. It's ten times better than the one the guards took from me."

Lulu smiled and took a few steps toward the younger girl before glancing back at the statue. She wasn't about to let Yuna's name be inscribed upon these walls. She wasn't going to let her own accompany it, nor any of the others'. She'd remember those words, 'stop Yevon', and she would remember who had written them.

* * *


End file.
